Community as People

By Kait Clavette
Nonprofit Studies Program, Rhode Island College
Providence, Rhode Island

When I think about the concept of “people”, the broad, general group we all belong to, I think diversity. I think about all the colors in a box of crayons. You can divide each crayon into a basic color group, like reds and blues and greens, but each crayon is still very different than the others in their group. Like there is red, but there is brick red, burgundy red, magenta, and the same for every other group. A community is much like a box of crayons; it’s a container of people. We could break down a community ethnically, economically, by their customs or colors, but in the end each and every person is a distinct entity in and of themselves. People are apt to over-generalize. This over-assimilation bias is an evolutionary tool that has boosted our species to this point in our development, and also a tool in our destruction. When problem solving, it is important to remember that every situation is unique. When thinking of creating change or improving a community, it is vital to keep this in mind. By observing the opportunity in the community, or as my church would say, our “time, talent, and treasures”, and focusing on the individual's unique contributions, I think change is possible. This provides people with the opportunities to come out of the wood works, and provide, for example, funding for a project. If they lack financial backing, their time physically helping in any way big or small, or using their talents to collaborate on a project is made equivalent. When people come together, small acts are magnified; many hands do make light work.

This idea of community matters because it aims to the motivation behind change. If the people perceive their needs as great enough to want change, they will be motivated to help that change occur in any way they can. I don’t think money alone can buy lasting change, however building a fellowship between neighbors will. The days of bringing a fruit cake to the new neighbors is over. People fear change, fear strangers. Rather than face the unknown, we lock our doors, peek out our windows, and keep our kids on leashes and off the streets. I believe if the people can bond together over a common cause like the improvement of the place they live, they will begin to see it’s an important and achievable thing. We assume the worst, and make it manifest in reality. If the people are at the root of the community, then they drive the direction of their change. If it is the people who are going to benefit from whatever change, thenthey need to determine what that change will be.

This idea of community includes a myriad of social gatherings, brainstorming and reporting of observations. This idea is rooted in collaboration of people, the people of the community getting to know the many different people who surround them, knowing the weaknesses of the community and the strengths, the many talents and passions, of the people in it. This idea could cause visible change in the physical condition of the community, the activities of the community, but most importantly in the overall change in quality of life. We are all individual people on a journey through life, and not one individual has all the answers to life’s puzzles. In order to fix the problems within a community, you need to connect the tools you have at your disposal for fixing it – the people who live there. By connecting the people who live in a community, you attack the problem at the source, providing an opportunity for neighbors to help each other and in return help themselves. By combining their efforts, each individual small act can be magnified into large change – whether that change is a new chess club, knitting group, or weekend jam session or physical project is irreverent. Behind any of the community change success stories is not the desire to make something nicer, buy something newer… all those who get involved leave with so much more that they can’t wrap their hands around physically – they find fellowship. It takes a village to raise a child, and we are all children till we die – constantly learning and making mistakes and making ourselves better. Children bond together, but as we grow confident, we forget how to reach out in times of need. Thinking of a community as its people is thinking about the parts that make up the community, and the quality of how those parts interact, the potential they have for interaction. Community is not just an address, it is a face, it is knowing your neighbors and knowing we will survive together. The more we connect, the more opportunity we perceive to interact with others, get social satisfaction and social change, making each individual stronger in turns makes a stronger community.